Why
Ice Hockey?
Quite simply ice hockey is the fastest sport on earth. The combination of
high speed skaters chasing a puck moving at over 100kmh makes for an
exciting, action packed 2 hours of competition where only the bravest
and toughest survive!
You are close to the action whether rink side or higher up in the stands and you’ll
feel everything literally that is happening out on the ice. If you are looking for an
alternative winter activity then ice hockey could be what you have been looking for.
But ice hockey is not new to Australia. It has been played in Melbourne since 1906
with the first recorded match between a Victorian representative side and a team of
visiting American sailors from the warship USS Baltimore.
From there the sport took off and in 1909 the J.E. Goodall trophy came into being for
interstate competition, initially between Victoria and New South Wales. The trophy
was donated by 16 year old John Edwin Goodall, an early Victorian ice hockey player.
This is now the third oldest ice hockey trophy still being contested in the world and is
the cup that teams playing in the AIHL compete for.
Why
Melbourne Ice?
Melbourne Ice was the first Melbourne club to join the Australian Ice Hockey
League (AIHL). Established in 2000, Melbourne Ice commenced playing in the
AIHL in 2002, calling the Olympic Ice Skating Arena in Oakleigh home.
In 2010 we moved from Oakleigh to the newly built Medibank Icehouse,
now the O’Brien Group Arena, in Docklands.
Instantly we quadrupled our membership and our fan base expanded to cement our
position as the biggest club in Australian ice hockey. Growing from strength to strength,
2010 was the first year of a three year winning streak making Melbourne Ice the only
team to win the Goodall Cup three years in a row. We are also the first team to have
won the H Newman Reid Trophy (minor premiership) and Goodall Cup in the same year,
2011 and we secured the inaugural Trans Tasman Champions League trophy in 2012.
While winning trophies is nice Melbourne Ice has always looked to the future and
the development and growth of ice hockey for future generations. Our elite junior
academy programme has been developed for the training of future Melbourne Ice team
members. It involves learning skills both on and off the ice with a view to creating well
rounded, team oriented individuals.
The Melbourne Ice mission statement encapsulates the philosophy by which the club
and the team operates. This is revisited on a regular basis to ensure that we are
performing in a manner that is true to our values, across the club.
We invite you to join us rink side in season 2016 and experience the hard, fast
exhilarating action of AIHL ice hockey with Melbourne Ice.
Our Mission Statement
To be the best club in the Australian Ice Hockey League; providing elite ice hockey to the people of Melbourne.
We value: • Excellence, commitment and team work
• A family spirit, marked by hospitality, honesty and integrity
• The development of each member of the Melbourne Ice family
Our vital statistics
(as at end of 2015):
Members: 7%
9%
AGE
Under 16
15%
394
16 – 21
22 – 35
29%
36 – 50
Matches: 14 home games at O’Brien Group Arena
(formerly Medibank Icehouse)
1100 average for the season
Match crowd: 50+
40%
Melbourne derby matches: 1300 average for 2 Melbourne Ice home derbys
played against the Mustangs
Facebook followers: 8051 (grew by 1,000 from 2014)
Twitter followers: 3571 (increase of 20% over the 2015 season)
Instagram: 1496 (grew by 50% over the 2015 season)
Livestream views: total for season 53,190; 12,046 unique views
Livestream finals: seen in 771 cities across 89 countries
GENDER
41%
Male
Our social media channels as well as our livestream are all global in their reach.
FOXTEL: Female
9%
18%
5%
20%
CBD
edited highlights of ‘game of the week’ for entire
season – 28 games shown + special events
On the following pages we have some options for player and team sponsorship that
will help us to keep the team on the ice and on the road for season 2016!
LOCATION
West
North
20%
28%
East
South East
Country
59%
Player
Sponsorship
Ice hockey in Australia is an expensive pursuit. Melbourne Ice attempts
to make playing in the team cost neutral for our players. We do this
through player sponsorship and every year encourage our players to
find themselves a sponsor or sponsors from within the Melbourne Ice
community, their workplace or social network.
In 2016 we will attempt to have every player sponsored to the value of $1000.
A cost analysis that we made in season 2015 showed that this amount covers
everything that they require off the ice including registration to play in the league,
travelling uniform, gym uniform, team backpack, cap, beanie, hoodie and so on.
And they don’t have to find this sponsorship from just one source! A syndicate of
friends all contributing together, or a number of individual sponsors contributing
smaller amounts all help towards the end goal! We also encourage multiple
sponsors for players so if you have a couple of favourites you might like to
contribute something towards them.
Player sponsor benefits include:
• Logo or name in the game day book alongside the player in the roster listing
• Invitation to exclusive sponsor events
• Invitation to the ‘Skate with the Players’ event on Sunday July 10th
• Mounted team photo
Team
Sponsorship
Player sponsorship is not the only option of support for the club.
You may prefer to contribute towards one of the many items of equipment
or the cost of an away game weekend that we provide for every member
of the team and the coaching and support crew.
The list below is an indication of part of the cost incurred each year to provide
these items for the team:
Away game weekend
Team jerseys (home and away)
Sticks
Helmets
Pants
Socks
Laces & tape
Hockey bags
Game Pucks
$5000
$3000
$2000
$1500
$1000
$750
$500
$500
$100
Team sponsor benefits include:
• Logo or name in the game day book in the sponsor listing
• Invitation to exclusive sponsor events
• Invitation to the ‘Skate with the Players’ event on Sunday July 10th
• Mounted team photo
• Signed piece of equipment from the team at the end of the season*
*For specific equipment sponsorship such as jerseys, sticks etc.
This is just a snapshot of who we are and what we do.
If you have some alternative ideas for sponsoring that you would like to discuss
please contact us at: [email protected] or come and see us
at a home game at the O’Brien Group Arena, 105 Pearl River Road Docklands.
Melbourne Ice Inc. PO Box 274 Richmond VIC 3121 Australia
www.melbourneice.com.au
Design: Arts Desire Advertising & Design 03 9696 6669 Print: TMP Digital Printing Services 03 9328 2422 Photography: Kevin Phelan, Matt Wragg, Andrew Mercieca, Tania Chalmers